The Student Insurgent Issue 28.1 "The Power Issue"

The Student Insurgent
The Power Issue

Volume 28.1, Fall 2016

Table of Contents

Prologue 2

ae = Letters & Such 3
. : Tt Resisting Fascism 5

; After the Electoral Extravaganza 7
Media Blackout: Worker Uprisings 9

- Normalizing the Nude 11

»» How's My Prison Healthcare? 14
The Anti-Trump Agenda 16
Submissions from a Stirnerist 17

—— Understanding American Oligarchy 19
nm Tactics for the Defens

bt

The Student Insurgent is a radical publication of news, art, and
opinion published by a horizontal editorial collective of students at
the University of Oregon. We publish essays, fiction, poetry, reporting,
and art submitted by students, prisoners, and anyone else who wishes
to have their voice heard. We are revolutionary anti-capitalists and
anti-authoritarians, as well as green, feminist, and anti-racist. We
are interested in destroying hierarchy, oppresson, authority, and
exploitation wherever they exist, and encourage you, dear reader, to
do the same!

The Student Insurgent magazine is distributed freely to students,
prisoners, and community members. Any and all material, art or
written, is welcome to be submitted. Submissions should be sent
by email or post. If you want your material to be considered for
publication, you do not need to ask permission first, just send it to
us immediately. We reserve the right to edit all material for grammar,
clarity, and length. All materials, written or artistic, reflect solely the
opinion of their author, not necessarily that of the Student Insurgent.

i tn ~~ ”° = -

Prologue
I,

pes< on the primary page of this periodical is a pyramid of paper people portraying positions of power
present in our population. The polis is compelled to uphold the base of the system. Perpetually preoccupied
with the pressure of disempowerment and privation, they struggle to disrupt the powers that be. At the pinnacle
preside the patriarchs in their palace. These pigs profit from the perpetuation of poverty, the penury of the
pauperized population, the pervading pandemic of private property and the persistent pillaging of our planet,
pushing us all to perdition. However, the People—the pupils, the proletariat, the oppressed—possess the power
to perturb the peace and protest the political order. In this periodical publication, we present a polemic on
power. We cannot promise you a plan for a perfect world, but through poetry, prose, and polemic, we can paint
a prototypical picture, and point a possible path to a preferable position on this planet.

Power to the People. Power to the People. Power to the People.

If.

I: often useful to think dialectically of power in two different but connected forms, 'power to' versus ‘power
over’. It would be overly simplistic to say that the first is good and the second is bad, though in general,
movements that aspire to create and expand freedom will want to increase individuals’ and collectivities' power
to do as they wish, while at the same limiting any person's power over others. We—at the Insurgent anyway—
seek to promote empowerment, while destroying coercive power. The goal is to aid the powerless, and resist the
powerful.

However it's also important to problematize this binary. No person is an island, nor a rugged individual. We
all live in a tightly interconnected system where even the most minute actions can significantly affect other
people, even people far away. In a great many cases, increasing the freedom of action for one means necessarily
curtailing it for others. Everyone's liberty ends where others’ begins. And indeed, many movements supposedly
seeking liberation have ended up increasing freedom for some at the expense of others. Indeed, the country we're
living in is a graphic illustration. The freedom, independence, and autonomy the Pilgrims and pioneers found in
America almost always came at the expense of the indigenous people, the Native Americans who were expelled
and exterminated to make room for whites.

Today's revolutionary movements must value inclusion and diversity. They must promote liberty and equality.
No one is free until everyone is free.

While there is a lower class, I am in it; and while there is a
criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I
am not free. -Bugene V. Debs

My name is Adrien Joshua Espinoza (Ochoa). I am 32 years old,
from Mesa, AZ, USA. I am, by definition and in all practicality,
an “enemy of the State.” I am a prisoner of war. A POW in the
ar on marginalized and disenfranchised people. At the least, I
combat the State in my ideals, through litigation, and via political
and social activism.

The State has elected to imprison me in a supermaximum
security penitentiary in the hopes of incapacitating a formidable
/ adversary. This is a tactic commonly employed by the State. This
supermax facility, SMU2, is one of the highest security-level
gulags in the nation. It is also notoriously one of the most corrupt.

Hundreds of political prisoners are detained in this compound.
‘\, They are imprisoned here either because of their “political” ties
or due to the alleged security risk they pose. The State is able
/ to label us by using crooked and corrupt strategies and tactics.
‘They utilize snitches and sometimes even “phantom snitches’,
meaning they falsify documents to support their claims, knowing
that not even the feds can compel them to disclose the identities

‘of informants (rats).

Against some of their enemies they increase the intensity
in their drive to defeat us. As with any war, propaganda is an
important weapon they use. Administrators and officers of this
corrupt Department oftentimes falsify disciplinary violations
{ of a sensitive or controversial nature, and then spread word of
he alleged violation amongst the population. Confederates and
‘fellow revolutionaries see through the smokescreen, but many
do not, which the State loves, as it decimates opposition to their
efforts to deny us civil and basic human rights.

I have become a target of the Department [of corrections]. They
ave been filing false disciplinary reports, seizing incoming mail
and books, deactivating visitor’s approved status, and more.
\ They provide absolutely no due process during disciplinary
or classification hearings. They have stolen my main access to
media by seizing my television and “losing” my radio. They
ave cut me off from communicating with family and friends
by prohibiting me from phone calls and routinely disconnecting
calls on those rare occasions I receive a call. They have repeatedly
denied my requests to call my legal counsel, in further violation
\ of my Constitutional rights.

‘All of this I expect. And more. I do not mean to imply that I
am content with it. I understand all too well the extent to which
corrupt prison bureaucrats will go to silence an adversary. To
/ their dismay, I am not giving up my fight. I will only get louder,
engage the enemy more fiercely, and do everything in my power
< to disrupt their corrupt efforts. Battle time, motherfuckers.

However, I cannot fight this fight alone; and so I ask for your
continued support. Stand strong in your solidarity and do not let
< these lying manipulative people mislead you with their rhetoric,

ey a i de da he a de de ha ee a he a a i i a a a aN i a” a a a di a a a a a ay ta da’ da’ das a as ny da a i ha a

Letters and Such

/-— -). LS /, 2B

~

disinformation, falsified reports, and propaganda. Their goal is to
convince you, the People, that their shady, corrupt daily actions
are justified. Do not be fooled. They are not.

RK KX K AXE

I am an enemy of the State, because the Department [of
corrections] is an arm of the State. But the State is an enemy of
the People, because it preys on and targets minorities, the poor, |
the mentally ill, the homeless, and anyone else who is an obstacle
to or superfluous to the State’s agenda.

I ask you to get involved in this struggle; be heard. Contact the
governor and the head of the Department of Justice. Contact
this unit’s Warden. Contact our Representatives and Legislators.
Talk about this with family and friends. Demand transparency
from the system. Demand fairness and humane treatment. Do
not be misled to believe that we who are jailed and imprisoned
unjustly and unfairly are only a handful of individuals. The ,
statistics suggest there are millions in the US who are currently
or were once. Something must be done to abolish or drastically
reform this arcane, draconian, grossly inhumane system that is
a disgrace to the ideals and values this nation was supposedly
founded upon. You can make a change. Get involved at the local
level by contacting your local representatives and activists, while,
for now, I remain--behind enemy lines.

The Experiment
by: Adrien Espinoza

They are cast aside, rejected

Longing for that day, dejected

Harboring torment, desperate

Illusions of normality

Twisted sick, corrupt captors

Like a black hole, it sucks you in,

The environment, the elements, rhetoric
Nontransparent and hidden from society

To our families once begotten

But now only forgotten

They are broken around him

Fallen, one by one, again and again

The sickness is in the air

But he fights it

His gas mask the only person who’s always cared
Fighting to persevere, detractors become irrelevant
His chin high, his chest out, he is benevolent

He remains headstrong, steadfast, and whole

And Will never fall as a broken soul

i I EO I I Se Se Sk? Fy Sy, Si Si, Fi. Fie Sh Fh Fe SF Fn. SS SX FX F™

‘s

™~ ee

{MICHIGAN PRISONERS RISE UP!
/Overcrowded and Underfunded State Prisons Spawn Resistance

<By Rand W. Gould
Z

ihe everyday activity of slaves reproduces slavery. Through their
" <daily activities, slaves do not merely reproduce themselves and
their masters, physically; they also reproduce the instruments
,with which the master represses them, and their own habits of
submission to the master’s authority.

»<-Fredy Perlman, “The Reproduction of Daily Life”

/

Not since the 1980s, when the State of Michigan, simultaneously,
<ratcheted up “tough on crime” laws and eliminated good time
credits, which had reduced the time served before prisoners were
considered for parole, have Michigan's prisons been so overcrowded
and seething with discontent. Overcrowded, underfunded and
understaffed, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC)
As struggling to provide housing, food, medical and programming
for approximately 43,000 prisoners, within a $2.1 billion per year
<budget that has not changed significantly this century, despite
‘\Anultiple prison closures and the privatization of medical care,
food service and commissary. A budget that is unlikely to increase
in the future due to the over $2 billion in tax cuts enacted by Gov.
Rick Snyder. A massive tax cut to the corporations that continue
jto move their manufacturing operations out of state, if not the
country, eliminating decent paying jobs which, in turn, causes at
<least a dozen families to puck-up and leave this “right-to-work-
\_Aor-less” state every day. Michigan is the only state in the country
with a declining population.

{Couple this with the looting of city and public school budgets by
, t0o- -big-to-fail” banks and transnational finance corporations,
“via the creation of massive debt under the aegis of Gov. Snyder’s
<“Financial Managers’, resulting in bankruptcies, as has occurred
<_in Detroit, Flint, Benton Harbor, et al., all unsurprisingly majority
black cities, along with the crumbling state-wide infrastructure,
<such as roads and water systems, and it becomes clear Michigan
As facing a disaster of epic proportions that reaches way beyond
economics into the daily life of its people. It has been estimated
‘that the Flint water disaster alone, will cost the state over
2$2 billion, courtesy of the Gov. Snyder-appointed Financial
Managers ill-considered attempt to save a few million dollars
by disconnecting Flint from the Detroit water system in order to
<pump toxic water into people’s homes from the GM-polluted Flint
/River. A compelling act of genocide against Flint’s black-majority,
pad overwhelmingly poor population. $2 billion that will not be
“available for the MDOC budget, road repair or anything else.
Neither will the money be available Gov. Snyder is spending on his
egal defense in lawsuits holding him responsible for engineering

“this disaster!
)

/This year, after decades of passivity, Michigan prisoners are finally
rising up and actively resisting their oppression. The inevitable

ickens coming home to rgost” in,a prison system that gperates for the strike. Reflecting, rather incredibly, sesrese

J NS NS ON

4
i
*

rx

as a human warehouse, with few programming opportunities
(none for lifers), whether teaching jobs or rehabilitation, and
fewer jobs at slave wages of $0.84 to $1.14 per day. Wages that \,
not only have not increased in decades, but have decreased, as
performance bonuses were taken from food service and Michigan
State Industries (MSI) workers, while the quality and quantity of
food served to prisoners had declined precipitously, as commissary*\__
prices have skyrocketed, due to privatization. Overcrowding,
understaffing, slave wages, high commissary prices, high phone
rates, less food, with what is served being nutritionally deficient \,
(e.g., less than a cup of vegetables a day, when USDA guidelines
recommend 2 % cups), lack of programming and poor medical
care, are all the ingredients necessary to a recipe for disaster.

Consequently, it was no surprise when, on March 20th and,
21st, over 1,000 out of 1,300 prisoners, crammed into Kinross Y
Correctional Facility’s four aging polebarns, refused meals and\,
demonstrated on the yard or when, on March 26th through

28th, over 1,100 out of 1,300 prisoners, crammed into Chippewa

Correctional Facility’s four aging polebarns, also refused the \
meals provided by Trinity, the private food service contractor.
These actions were followed, on April 12th, by 600 prisoners at,/~
Cotton Correctional Facility refusing meals and, on May 14th,

by 700 out of 1,100 level I prisoners refusing meals at Marquette’\
Branch Prison. x

On September 9th, the 45th anniversary of the Attica State Prison
rebellion, prisoners across the country answered the Free Alabama:
Movement’ call for a nationwide prisoner labor strike by refusing
to work in at least 23 states. Michigan prisoners struck at Kinross
CF in the Upper Peninsula, Bellamy Creek CF and Michigan
Reformatory in Iowa. There were likely other strikes, but these

have so far been unreported, Striking Michigan prisoners A,
supported by a very militant demonstration at the state capitol o
Lansing, when anarchists and their accomplices shut down traffic
with a borrowed U-Haul truck and unfurled banners that read
“Solidarity With the Sept. 9th Prison Strikers” and “Freedom Will \
Blossom From the Ashes of the Prisons.” \

At Kinross CF, with prisoner kitchen workers refusing to work, the )
administration’s response was to serve “sack lunches,” consisting \,
of a couple of bread on bologna sandwiches and a piece of fruit, at.
every meal. On the 10th, after a day of sack lunches, 400 prisoners
went out on the yard, to voice their demand to be served the hot
meals required by policy, and marched peacefully. 4

To suppress this peaceful demonstration, the MDOC mobilized 5
over one hundred armed corrections and state police officers from,
across the state, at great cost, who confronted the prisoners and,
ordered them to return to their units. The prisoners complied with
this order peacefully, only to have their hands zip tied, with them’,
taken back outside and forced to kneel on the ground in groups for
hours in the rain, as the officers picked out 250 so-called ‘agitators’
for immediate pack-up and transfer to other prisons in retaliation

yx ¥ ¥ ¥ XX OP PPP PPP PPP PPPPPPPP IAA ne

de

oy

ins

4 pdonly officers in the units, ostensibly packing up the 250 agitators’
<property and likely, as per usual in these situations, tearing up the
\./ “cubes and prisoner's’ personal property.

e"

\<Y Sometime during all of this, depending on who you believe-

4,t, te or corrections officer union spokespersons, prisoners or

corrections officers- all hell, seemingly, broke loose, with sinks
SSS cand other fixtures smashed, windows broken and at least one

} fire set, rendering two of the eight units in the four polebarns
> << uninhabitable. MDOC spokespersons had initially and repeatedly
SSL Sastated the prisoner labor strike and subsequent demonstration
\<S at Kinross CF were peaceful, while corrections officer union

LN .L" spokespersons claimed it was a violent riot, as reported by CBS
< 7/9 & 10 News and other local media throughout the weekend.

(See Paul Egan, “Iwo views of prison uprising emerge,’ at
Ona 8 Pp p g 8
SSS detriotfreepress.com.)
<>

\<’S < S«Despite the obvious contradiction, it strains the bonds of
ba’ Cas credulity to think that this “riot” was not, at least, provoked by
ie. ee the officers. How they managed to get these, up to that point,
\7 * /* peaceful prisoners to riot when ziptied and confronted by officers
NLS Seovith automatic weapons is beyond the knowledge of this writer.
rere. What he does know is the officers raked in a lot of extra-pay and
N05 it is in their interest to portray prisons as violent and dangerous,
in order to iustifv more prisons and prison iobs bv inciting fear

Beeneneneneenen:

ee , o,%5

0-00-0202 0-0-0006),

eretes > |
POSSE RR OI

the yard at Attica 45 years ago, albeit it not reaching the same

\L*
SSS ov of brutality and without the wholesale slaughter. This left

atet
a

in the public. Fortunately, according to reports, no one was hurt, ,
because, as we all know, in this age of video recording, police’
officers have a marked propensity for extreme violence, up to and:
including murder. As on the streets, so in the prisons.

So what is next for Michigan’s prisoners? No doubt, more ae ro,
i.

the same until the MDOC alleviates the extreme overcrowding

and provides decent housing, food, medical care, programming »

and wages to prisoners. The first step towards achieving these

goals requires the MDOC to cease operating its prisons at, or.

near, 200% of capacity. Both Kinross and Chippewa CF consist |

of 4 polebarns, each housing 320 men, 8 men to a 4-man cube, \ \

with only 10 sq. ft. of unencumbered floor space for each mane (

when U.S. Dept. of Agriculture rules require a minimum of 25.1 Ly 2
Ly

\ \

sq. ft. for apes over 55lbs. (See 56 FR 6426, 9 CFR 380 (b)(2)
(1).) With 8 men in 4-man cubes and 2 men in one-man cells,’

there are double the men using the yards, dayrooms, chow halls,
bathrooms, showers, etc., than these facilities were designed for. ;
Michigan's women prisoners have it even worse. Crammed into \
overcrowded prisons, underfed, denied proper medical care and

X\

rising commissary prices, it’s no wonder Michigan Prisoners are
rising up! The only question is: why did it take them so long?! *~

programming, while forced to work for declining slave wages and. ~E

“Fascism is the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most
chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of financial capital. Fascism
is neither the government beyond classes nor the government of the petty
bourgeois or the lumpen-proletariat over financial capital. Fascism is the
government of financial capital itself.” -Georgi Dimitrov

Resisting Fa

Photos by Emilio Halperin
10 November 2016

ahi pn's sb
2 gh er 4

“abe -

- ag

bor

i hey ’

ay
Le

7

=

The massive electoral spectacle is over. “The people have spoken.”
This bastard won instead of that other bastard.

Does it make a difference? Do the victims of American state
terrorism care very much that the jackbooted thugs stomping
on their necks are commanded by a proto-fascist authoritarian
nationalist rather than a neoliberal warhawk imperialist? Do
they care about the meaningless intricacies of the Electoral
College and the popular vote? Nothing has changed. The coal-
fired power plants are still online and new oil pipelines are still
under construction. Immigrants are still being rounded up by
the hundreds of thousands annually to be imprisoned and then
deported. American factories still build planes, bombs, and tanks
to sell to the murderous theocratic regime in Saudi Arabia, which
is currently using them to indiscriminately slaughter Yemeni
civilians. The police have already killed a thousand Americans
this year, and they'll kill at least a hundred more by New Years.

Now is as good a time as any to get off your ass and fight back.
You must throw your bodies onto the gears of the death machine
and bring it sputtering to a halt! The world can’t wait for the next
reality TV extravaganza (known as a US election) in a couple
years. We can't wait until next time and sit around the television
and clutch our “TI voted” stickers like lottery tickets, praying for
the one in a billion chance that this election will finally solve our
problems unlike the hundreds before that didn't.

Take to the streets and make trouble. Cover your face, link
arms with your friends, and create endless headaches for the
Trump regime every time they try to do so much as hold a press
conference. The power is not in the ballot box, it never was. It’s
in your hands and ours. When you refuse to follow police orders,
and stand on the rails to prevent oil trains from passing, and block
traffic on freeways, you clog up the arteries of the system, and
cause a devastating heart attack. Give Trump a heart attack, stop
the blood flowing to his fat fucking ass, and be free.

U7

)
& “WEAR BLACK

UNITED WE RE

JANUARY

(20,2017
GENERAL STRIKE

Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Oaklan

* pRISON
ft SLAVERY ha

MEDIA BLACKOUT: WORKER UPRISINGS 2016

Discourse is power. Political discourse shapes the vernacular
that we have to explain our experiences with the world and
with authority. While it is important to understand the presence
of particular rhetoric and framings of issues, a trend of silence
also affects our tools for challenging systems of power. In 2016,
there have been a number of historic strikes across the world
challenging austerity and neoliberal capitalism.

The United States Prison Strike

At time of writing, the US is currently in the seventh week of
the largest prison workers strike in American history. Beginning
September 9th, prisoners refused orders and started hunger
strikes to protest deplorable conditions, slavery, and solitary
confinement. This date marked the anniversary of the Attica
Prison riot in 1973—an uprising in which the prisoners protested
the human rights abuses in the
American prison system and
seized control of the facility.
Today, strikers in California,
Alabama, Florida, Wisconsin,
and elsewhere have shut down
production at prisons with a
variety of demands. Accurate
estimates are difficult to come
by, but there appears to be at
least 24,000 people involved.

Central to the prisoners’ rights movement is a recognition of
the continuity of American slavery. Compared to 0.7% of white
men, 4.7% of the African American population is currently
imprisoned. African Americans account for nearly 1 million of the

At the heart of the strike, there is more
than a finite list of policy demands;
there is a critic of the very capitalistic
system that perpetuates systemic
inequality and alienation.

2.3 incarcerated people in the United States. Many of the “prison
farms’ in the South are on the same land as slave plantations of
the nineteenth century. Further evidence of the continuity is the
explicit loophole to the Thirteenth Amendment: “Neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”

While this strike alone offers no promise to the end of American
slavery, it presents a chance to turn the tide on involuntary labor—
much like Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831 marked a turning point
in 19th century slavery and foreshadowed the Civil War.

The India General Strike

On September 2nd an estimated 150 to 180 million public sector
workers went on strike to protest
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
neoliberal reforms. Modi has
pushed a platform of privatization
and Hindu nationalism under the
right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.
While demands and grievances
varied, the central themes
among the strikers were calls for
workplace democracy and greater
wealth redistribution. Further,
many workers in the informal economy—which accounts for
around 90% of the workforce of the world’s fastest growing, large
economy—participated in the massive strike

In addition to the sheer numbers of protesters and the inclusion

2016 has been a year of historic strikes.
been so silent the trend?

of workers in the informal economy, the significance of this
strike lies in the recognition of the failure of austerity and global
neoliberalism. At the heart of the strike, there is more than a finite
list of policy demands; there is a critic of the very capitalistic
system that perpetuates systemic inequality and alienation.

Oaxaca Teachers’ Strike

With the election of Pefia Nieto, many Mexicans celebrated what
seemed to bea return to the long-standing, de facto one-party rule
of the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) which, while
authoritarian and corrupt, at least
was relatively stable. However,
recent neoliberal reforms sought
by Nietos administration have
sparked crises across the country.
One such reform that they hope
to implement involves education.
Teachers in Mexico have enjoyed
relative autonomy due to the strength of their unions. Nieto’s
regime hopes to mandate examinations of teachers to determine
whether they can continue their licensure. Teachers criticize this
move as an attempt at a mass layoff and a way to undermine the
power of teachers, especially those in indigenous communities. The
unions argue that these reforms would not improve the education
for students and cannot possibly test for the qualities needed to
provide instruction in rural and indigenous communities.

To fight the reform, teachers went on strike in the states of Oaxaca
and Chiapas, the states with the highest population of indigenous
people. The protests and strikes only broke mainstream news
after the police murdered at least nine protesters. The New York

Without a mainstream media source

covering or contextualizing these strikes,

workers and the masses cannot see the
worldwide struggle for labor rights.

Why has the mainstream media

Times discussed the violence and the quoted condemnations from
locals and the union leaders. This representation implied that the
violence was the fault of the strikers and their allies rather than the
militarized police force brought in to break the strike. The article,
and mainstream news more broadly, did not mention the history
of political disenfranchisement of teachers and indigenous people
including mass disappearances and killings endorsed by the state
and capitalists.

What does the silence say?

Without any mainstream
media source covering or
contextualizing these strikes,
workers and the masses cannot
see the worldwide struggle for
labor rights. This limits the
potential for any international
workers’ movement from taking
shape, despite the widespread
dissatisfaction with the state of capitalism and authoritarianism.
Those of us who have the resources and time to research current
labor movements have the responsibility to educate our peers
and fellow workers and students to help build a consciousness
of worker solidarity that sees a struggle in India, Mexico, United
States, or elsewhere as deeply embedded in a worldwide struggle
for liberation.

tt

Normalizing the Nude:
Exploitation vs. Empowerment in New Media

Self-portraiture is not a new phenomenon - in fact, we
have no way of knowing just how early the first self-portrait was
created. It has simply expanded over different mediums from
painting and sculpture to film photography, and later digital
photography. As smartphones are more commonplace now than
ever, we all carry digital cameras, and thus the ability to produce
a self-portrait with the tap of a finger; with just another tap, we
can easily upload these photos to all of our social media accounts.
The prevalence of smartphones therefore gave birth to the selfie
phenomenon. Oxford Dictionaries’ 2013 Word of the Year was
selfie, defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself,
typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via
social media” (OxfordWords). Millennials began being referred
to as “the generation of the selfie” (Blow) and “Generation Me”
(Twenge), as this widespread sharing of self-portraits became
associated with narcissism and entitlement. But one could argue
that millennials are simply using the new mediums they are given
through the development of media. That is to say that the selfie is
a new medium through which we can investigate self-portraiture
- and therefore ourselves. Artists have always had the freedom
to examine themselves through self-portraits. Now, without the
limits of artistic ability or inclination,anyone with a cell phone can
use their selfie for introspection and empowerment.In navigating
the new mediums of communication and social interaction (that
is,screen-to-screen over face-to-face), we embrace that every
aspect of our humanity is becoming digitized - including even
our sexuality. One way this is being explored is through the
taking, sending, and even public posting of semi- or full-nude
selfies (often called “nudes”), which have sparked controversy and
questions of exploitation versus empowerment.

Artists vs. Amateurs

Like self-portraits themselves, nudes are not a new
phenomenon. What is so controversial about today’s nudes is that
they aren't being produced by artists, but by amateurs - “normal”
or “everyday” people. This is where purpose comes into question; if
artists produce nude portraits to investigate human sexuality and
the beauty of the body, who’s to say that amateurs aren't doing it for
the same purpose? Or is it sheer egotism? Or self-exploitation as a
result of porn culture? Before the public social media of today, one
might take nudes for a loved one - physical,printed photos kept to
themselves, hidden in a drawer and shared with few others. With
the development of analog to digital, new media makes all photos
much more public. By sharing a photo with someone over email
or text messaging, we give them the capacity to forward these
photos to their friends, who can forward them to their friends,
and so on. They have this same power with photos shared through
direct messaging on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and Snapchat. But because of the Terms of Service, we
also lose complete ownership of these photos - basically, Mark
Zuckerberg will never pay for porn again. Even more publicly,

By Sophie Bange
art by Laura Isabella

individuals are posting nude selfies directly to their social media
profiles.

They may even create profiles solely for this purpose,
“sinsta” or “finsta” are new slang which refer to “secret” or
“fake” Instagram accounts, often set to private so only those you
approve can follow you and view your profile. But these can still
be screenshotted and sent to the masses. You (probably) wouldn't
walk down the street naked. So why post nude selfies to social
media? Simply put, this is how we communicate now. Everything
we do is shared publicly, from what we eat for breakfast to what
time we finally unplug and go to sleep. Why should our sexuality
be exempt from this?

Exploitation or Empowerment

Sent through private messaging, nudes are often delivered
in confidence that the recipient will download the photo to their
own personal device and keep it there for themselves. This is the
digital version of the analog, physical photos which were kept
hidden in a drawer. Unfortunately, this exercise of trust is often
violated; entire websites exist dedicated to “revenge porn,’ defined
by Oxford Dictionary as “revealing or sexually explicit images or
videos of a person posted on the Internet, typically by a former
sexual partner, without the consent of the subject and in order
to cause them distress or embarrassment” (“RevengePorn’”). This
exploitation has become so widespread that 34 states have laws
against it; additionally, the Intimate Privacy Protection Act was
introduced just this year (Franks), which, ifpassed, will completely
criminalize revenge porn. The concept of using someone’s nudes
as a means of exploiting them brings into questions of power.

2
=

It could be argued that in taking a nude selfie, that
individual has the power, as it is a means of self-examination
and in the best cases, self-love and body positivity. The power
position becomes more complicated once nudes are shared. Is
it the sender who has the power to control whether anything is
sent in the first place, and the content of what is shared? Is it the
recipient, who now has the power to use the photos in whatever
way they please? Or finally, is the power shared between both
sender and recipient, as they both explore their sexualities and
relationship with each other? It is safe to say that this depends
highly on the situation.

In the case of the sender, power has a very complicated
role. Looking at your own naked body through a lens or on a
screen, provides a new perspective through which to view
yourself. Body positivity has become a movement, encouraging
people not to view themselves through the societal lens of the
ideal body type but instead realistically and with love. In addition
to challenging societal standards, nudes challenge gender roles
in sexuality and power relationships. Artist Hester Scheurwater
argues that women can regain power through the self-portrait;
in her own photography, she tries “to question the contemporary
codes of femininity as we a see them in all sorts of advertisements.
These codes define women as fake sex objects and link a woman's
identity with a male point of view of sexuality. I try to appropriate
these clichés of the ‘sensual, seductive’ woman and flip them on
their head”(Kane). In choosing to sexualize themselves, women
may take power back. Finally, nudes can allow someone to
explore their own sexuality. The idea of someone admiring their
naked body from miles away could be exciting and empowering;
thus sharing a nude does not necessarily equate to losing power.

On the other hand, giving a sexual partner power over these
photos may be equally arousing. Sharing your own nude photo
on a social media account could be a means of exploring

a

el

4

Baneé

exhibitionism. Through the taking and sharing of nudes, we can
investigate sexuality and even push the boundaries of what is
acceptable through the new media.

Recipients of nudes have the power to share these photos
further, making them a means of blackmail or exploitation.
Revenge porn stems from a societal issue of a lack of respect.
Victims of revenge porn are objectified, reduced to the imagine
of their naked body. But would revenge porn be so effective if we
didn’t live in such a modest society? What if the nude was - God
forbid - normalized? On a recent episode of Saturday Night Live,
cast member Leslie Jones addressed her own experience of being
hacked, as nude photos of her surfaced online in September. She
said, “I am very comfortable with who I am... If you wanna see
Leslie Jones naked, just ask!” (Sapos). In this way Jones preaches
body positivity and challenges the idea that women must be
modest to be respectable. She is empowered by her sexuality and
isn't afraid to express it. That’s not to discount those who prefer
keeping their bodies private - we simply should all have the right
to expose or conceal ourselves as we please in new media without
the threat of being slut-shamed or harassed. As Dr. Mariann
Hardey of Durham Univeristy States, “Women should be allowed
to portray themselves in a way they feel enhanced by. Who didn't
experiment with cutting their hair off or dying it pink when they
were younger? This is just a natural progression of experimenting
with the changing interfaces of being young and one of these
interfaces, yes, is sexual identity” (Day).

The taking and sharing of nudes is just one element of
the digitization of our lives. It combines the freedom of expression
with self-examination and exploration of sexuality. By examining
the relationships with power that this introduces, we challenge
societal expectations such as the ideal body type and modesty,
particularly in women. These expectations are slowly becoming
obsolete - and society’s operating system must be upgraded to
accommodate this. We deserve to have the right to share what we
want on the internet, and viewers of this content should respect
our ownership of it.

References

Blow, Charles M. “The Self(ie) Generation.” The New York Times. The New York
Times, 7 Mar.2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

Day, Elizabeth. “How Selfies Became a Global Phenomenon. The Guardian.
Guardian News andMedia, 13 July 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Franks, Mary Anne. “It's Time For Congress to Protect Intimate Privacy.’ The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 July 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016

Kane, Ashleigh. “Can Women Regain Power through the Self-portrait?” Dazed.
DazedDigital.com, 14 Sept. 2015. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

OxfordWords. “The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013.” OxfordWords
Blog. OxfordDictionaries, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.“Revenge Porn - Definition of
Revenge Porn in English.” Oxford Dictionaries. OxfordDictionaries, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Spanos, Brittany. “Watch Leslie Jones Joke About Internet Hack, Rip Trolls on
‘SNL? RollingStone. Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Twenge, Jean M., PhD. Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More
Confident,Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable than Ever before. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2014.Print.

i

13

=

ae:

—...tomasinad, TO.

0.0.0. 6.8 e.e,0,5,8
. ‘
PU ia hy ‘

.
<
.
Oo
*
°
'<
o
=
°
<
=
ee
oy
°-
-
'-
oe
°
oe
°
ce
S
ee
e
ee
7
oe
oO
es
o
ee
O
x)
©
o«
-
oe
Oo
os
2
=:
-°
ox
.
=:
se
°
oe
-
se
°
te
~
ee
Oo
o

body

efoeia THAT THE POLICE ARE
THE INSTRUMENT OF THE
NRULING CLASS. THEY ARE NOT

5 THE POLICE CANNOT B
“MADE GOOD" SO THEY MUST 8!

BTHAT INDIVIDUAL POLIC
> OFFICERS MIGHT FOR EXAMPLE

BE NICE TO THEIR GRANNIES

NOT KICK THE CAT IN TH
is MORNING AND EVEN BE AGAINST

‘SUPERIORS’ TO HIT PEOPLE==

o.eele.e,

’ ’
‘ of ete .

.
’

|

MOVER THE HEAD WITH AS

ms TRUNCHEON THEY WILL, 2

BECAUSE THEY WON'T BE IN THE=:

=

HOW'S MY PRISON HEALTHCARE?
"Ask The Ghosts”

by Timothy J. Muise

When | was a young man, | would have scoffed at the proposition that "Ghosts" existed.
| drank beer in cemeteries, brought dates to haunted mansions, and cracked jokes about the
Salem Halloween antics. Today, | believe in these wholeheartedly as | hear them screaming
down the corridors of the prison hospital units; crying for justice!

If you want to know about prison healthcare, you need to ask the ghosts. You can ask
my dear friend Billy Barnoski about how when he was dying from a brain tumor, his lungs full of
MRSA, and no one told him. They knew, these prison Kavorkians, but they kept it secret.
Billy's family, my extended family, did not find out until the autopsy. Billy screams for justice at
Shirley's Hospital Unit.

You can ask Lefty Gilday, a man who helped to get dozens of men out of prison. When
Lefty was held in a “Solitary Confinement” medical cell and could not open his food trays, they
just piled up. No nurse, doctor, or evil candy-striper would even consider opening the trays for
him; he was left to starve to death at 90 years of age. Thank God another convict came by and
fed Lefty. Lefty is letting out blood curdling cries for mercy in the Secured Nursing Facility at
MCI Shirley.

If you were to talk to the ghost of Frankie Soffen, he would tell you how he was left in a
feces and urine filled adult diaper for over twenty-four hours on several occasions. Frank's
private areas looked as if the skinwa:sandblasted off and nurses would say, "I'm not dealing
with him. I'm hung over,” and Frank would lie there in his filth. Evil has no limits in these gulag
hospitals. Frank Soffen haunts the shiny waxed corridors of Shirley's Health Services Unit.

Dying of cancer, old Herbie was begging for an increase in pain medication. A prison
warden, with no medical training, told Herbie that he was "at his limit" and could not get more
unless he was sent to the "end of life unit” at Shattuck Hospital. Herbie moaned in pain each
night, begging to be sent to Shattuck, but this evil deputy, snakes in her hair, kept him in pain
for weeks until he ultimately succumbed to the cancer. She is our Himmler. Herbie rolls a
ghostly wheelchair up and down the halls, moaning in pain to this day.

One of the "dregs of humanity", as Mark Twain called prison guards, spends his day
snapping plastic cups into the ear of a deaf, 70 year old, dying veteran, and verbally abusing a
bed-ridden dementia patient. He hides the wheelchair of an old man with brain cancer and eats
the fruit that was sent for the patients to eat. His ear-to-ear evil grin reminds the sick and dying
octogenarians in the gulag sick-bay that their lives are literally in his evil hands. His victims,
untold and growing, haunt the cells and dormitories of the hospital. These ghosts scream out
for justice, they plead for mercy, they are demanding that the evil be exposed.

How's my prison healthcare? The answer is “haunting”. | avoid the hospital like the
plague and | pray each day | do not get sick. Ghosts are real and they live in the prison
hospitals. Listen to them. Help us expose the evil there. It has to be exposed, and the evil doers
held accountable, before it can be changed. Listen to the ghosts, they are calling out to you!

14

Pe 39 fie a fra | ts |
‘WHOEVER THEY VO7E
FOR, WE ARE (7

: UNGOVERNABLE

OW 2

ALL POWER TO
THE PEOPLE

MAKE AMERICA
GREAT FOR ONCE

MAKE AMERICA
NOT EXIST

The Anti-Trump Agenda:
Making America

Donald Trump is pus-sucking pond scum. And because
of this, he ripped his racist, reactionary, authoritarian, warhawk
campaign slogan straight from Ronald God-damn Reagan, the
murderous tyrant himself, one of the pus-suckingest pond-
scummiest killers to ever disgrace the Earth. “Make America Great
Again, Trump says, as if we were ever better than we are today.

Make no mistake, America
is a terrible place full of injustice and
exploitation and a deadly blight on the
rest of the planet, but in the past we
were actually worse. Through bloody
struggle every step of the way, slavery
was abolished, the vote was granted
to all adults, divorce, birth control,
and sodomy were legalized, Jim Crow
was ended, a passable welfare state
to mitigate capitalist atrocities was
instituted, and the murderous march of te ae
Manifest Destiny finally came to an end somewhere in the Pacific
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and thankfully never spread any
further than it already did in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and
Guam. That's progress. Things are better.

Hillary Clinton's characteristically tepid response to this
slogan was to half-heartedly proclaim: No, “America Is Already
Great.’ Those on the radical left and perhaps the “woke” segments
of liberalism set the record straight finally with an accurate slogan:
“America Was Never Great.”

However, rhetorically, of course,
neither response is an adequate challenge
to the Trumpist-Reaganist sloganeering.
‘Make America Great Again’ is a two-part
statement. It makes an implicit factual claim
about the past and present, as the other two
slogans do explicitly, while also containing something they do not:
a positive vision for the future. Putting aside for a moment the fact
that the Trumpist vision for the future is demonstrably not better
than our present (and that’s saying something), it is true that a
vision for the future is needed. It’s not enough to be right about the
past. We—defined as those who strive for a freer, fairer, and more
equal world—have to have something to set forth as a vision for the
future.

The record was finally
set straight: “America
Was Never Great”

It is here that we reach a fork in the road, diverging
into two paths that I’ve pithily characterized with two alternative
slogans: Make America Great For Once and Make America Not
Exist.

The first is a positive project, a constructive one. Build,
refurbish, and replace institutions in order to make America
actually freer, fairer, and more
equal. Build a democratic society;
people-run and/or free in every
sphere.

The second is a negative
project, a destructive one.
Recognize there’s not time to lose
and wage war against America,
destroying what destroys you.
Physically disrupt, block, and
attack the means of oppression.

Its not immediately clear—to
me, at least—which is preferable or feasible. The circumstances
are dire and only one thing is obvious: America’s means to
nourish life need to be considerably improved and its means to
destroy life—by Air Force bombs, cops, prisons, bosses, poverty,
advertising, misogyny, pollution, mining, and fossil fuels—need to
be drastically reduced. Action must be taken now!

Thisis the choice before us, these are the avenues of struggle.
Build power for the people, or destroy power altogether. In some
ways no choice is necessary, both can be pursued simultaneously.
But in other ways, they are very much
opposed. The union struggle, and the
social welfare struggle for example, involve
treacherous but necessary compromises
and cooperation with the state and capital.
Such compromises and cooperation would
likely be fatal in the equally crucial struggle against police power,
imperialism, surveillance, and further environmental destruction,
where total refusal and unrelenting attack are the only means
available. These struggles can't be waged at the same time by the
same people.

Which means all you ranting, raving, radical utopian
lunatics out there, like us, have to decide whether you want to build
up or tear down this failed project called America.

16

17

All too often anarchism as a movement and a discourse is

oriented toward collectivist ideology. I mean this in a literal sense
of an ideology. Much of what is called anarchism seems to be more
of a form of Hegelianism. Possibly it becomes a way for Marxists
to smooth out the more and more obvious contradictions of their
ideology. To many so-called anarchists, freedom means freedom
for the megamachine, the Leviathan man, the superorganism they
inhabit.

The emphasis of anarchism should always be individual
freedom. Individualism doesn’t mean nonsense like capitalism.
Capitalism is a collectivist ideology as well, a structure of
interlocking components. Individuality is not even the avoidance
of other people. Most people want to be around others, with the
exception of some hermit types. It strikes me as unreasonably
misanthropic to mandate communal organization, as folks like
anarcho-communists do. Organizational and meeting fetishists
seem to think that if they should cease their ritual, their
revolutionary ideology would collapse. And there is truth to this,
the perpetual meetings of Bookchinists and Occupy drones are
intended to indoctrinate participants into an insular subculture
(who’s the lifestyle anarchist, college boy?) This ritualistic behavior
creates structures which keep the participants in line, and possibly
push a leader (or two) into a position of self aggrandizement at the
expense of other participants.

I am often pessimistic about others, but this is due to the
social roles we inhabit. Pushing individualism and egoist liberation
functions to break down these social roles. The liberation of one
is the liberation of others. Most individuals want the presence of
others. Liberated individuals will probably choose communalism.
Mutual aid will take the form of a union of self-owning ones.
The coming together enhances individual freedom and pleasure,
becoming synergistic mutuality, where our freedom together is
greater than the sum of our isolated and atomized parts.

It is difficult to determine how this individual freedom
will be assured. It has been suggested that it should be formalized
as a document, such as a bill of rights. I think this is the wrong
way to go. As it is formalized and put into a static written form,
it becomes legalistic. Once it is legalistic it becomes a game of
easy manipulation and can be turned on its head by any lawyer or
logician. It may make sense to include it in forms such as mission
statements for shared spaces and projects, but this is always of
limited utility.

The only way to assure the continuation of freedom is
a continual struggle. Any time authoritarian structures begin
to form they must be destroyed. This process never ends. Life
becomes perpetual struggle, becomes perpetual war for perpetual
freedom. This is okay, life is struggle. Insurrection never ends and
civil war becomes the definition of a free society.

Campaign to Play For Keeps
PO Box 10894
Albany, NY 12201

Bliss
by: Jason Rodgers

A bit of self destruction can go a long way
The motivation is not angst, but bliss,
causing me to smash up my face a little

a bit reactionary, certainly,

but what else can I do,

trapped in a labyrinth of hyper alienation?
Trying to escape these catacombs,

by any means available.

Moralism always judging everything in a binary way
Id rather holistic

the embrace of the value

of the full spectrum of existence.
Transvaluation of sensation

ultra vice in sin-sation

Enemies

I am not your ally. We are not comrades. Leftism is merely another
authoritarian ideology. Your very attitudes preserve the hegemony of the
totality. You may try to redirect blame away from yourself, saying that we
need to unite to fight the "real’enemy". Just because your leftist management

fiinctione 2 > ODDOSITION +o the rinht Yo)

society, move even further.
Authoritarian leftists love to say that people should join their
coalition because they agree with some isolated point. Well, I'm sure if
I talked to a National Socialist long enough we would find some obscure point
we could agree on. I am not going to join forces with them. I am not going
tO join forces with Lereists.
Talk of fighting the "Real
domination to mere spooks. Control s
fight. The enemy is here. Control is ine
Domination comes out of our social intera

reduces the nature of power and
ems become windmills to endlessly
weryday life, or it is nowhere.
tions. Leftists would preserve

te ACL

The difference between the left and the right is like the differenc
between Coke and Pepsi. the left is just the right with more meetings. This
is the direction we are moving in. Totalitarian social control is becoming
democratized. We're all dictators ofeach other. We'll all live in our own
Sweatshops (with workers' self management). We'll all live in Auschwitz
(with a People's Gestapo Collective). We'll all live in participatory
panopticons. Thank you comrade!

Campaign to Play For Keeps

Al}
lhant
FAt Oat)

18

land Ror, they Rich:

p

en Julian Kane

In 2014, Marten Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin I. the same; a Bill has approximately a 30% chance of becoming law.
Page of Northwestern University set out to answer one simple In the land of the free, and the home of the brave, if you want to
question: what kind of political system do American citizens live know whether this or that tax plan will be favored in the House
under? Instead of taking the _ ' of Representatives, don’t bother
easy route, and cracking open Average Citizens Preferences conducting a public opinion
one of the 50 year old social poll, instead, just draw straws
studies textbooks populating with two other people.
American classrooms, they However, the authors did
decided to put our claim of find one group whose opinion
representative democracy to does impact the likelihood of
the test. Analyzing a data set a bill becoming law. There was
that included key positions a strong, positive correlation
for 1,779 policy issues, Gilens between support from economic
and Page gauged the degree of elites and likelihood of political
support among the American success. If not a single wealthy
public for a range of policies 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 person throws their backing
and compared it to the Bencank audi proposed palleyauance behind a bill it has virtually no
likelihood of Congress passing chance of passing, but if there
a bill supporting that policy. is universal support among the
They characterized their moneyed classes of America, it
results as follows: 40% carries an optimistic 60% chance

“Clearly the median of passage through the people’s
citizen or ‘median voter’ branch of government.
at the heart of theories of How exactly did we get here?
Majoritarian Electoral Has there been a recent coup
Democracy does not do well de tat? Perhaps the military
when put up against economic stormed the capitol while
elites and organized interest everyone was taking a leak? This
groups. The chief predictions of would certainly be comforting
pure theories of Majoritarian 0% information to learn of. After all,
Electoral Democracy can 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 if we wake up one morning like
be decisively rejected. Not Percent favoring proposed policy change any other and learn our voices
only do ordinary citizens not do not resonate one iota within
have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions; they have _ the halls of power, then the most pertinent question to ask is; have
little or no independent influence on policy at all...When the our voices ever mattered at all? For many people living here today,
preferences of economic elites and the ze a the answer is certainly no. The United
stands of organized interest groups are There was a strong, positive States has a far longer history of denying
controlled for, the preferences of the Meeecacielesemeyaaiiasel support jaee)eem Lights to vast swaths of its population
average American appear to have only then it has of ‘granting’ those same rights.
a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non- Yet from time to time victories are won,
significant impact upon public policy.” political success.’ emancipations are gained, and one can

Whether one of the 1,779 easily be fooled into seeing our history
policy positions analyzed had no support among the American as an unstoppable, gradual, and altogether affable broadening
people, full support, or somewhere in between, the results remain of freedom for all Americans. This would be a grave mistake.

a] r 40%

+ 30%

20%

10%

OF N WRN DN
1
Percent of cases (grey columns)

0%

Predicted probability of adoption

Economic Elites' Preferences

30%
20%

10%

CORN WR WH DN

Percent of cases (grey columns)

Predicted probability of adoption

economic elites and likelihood of

With every patriotic act of dissent has followed a Patriot Act of

censorship and surveillance, every Martin Luther King comes
with ten Joseph R McCarthy’s. Oppressive actions in the US have
been legal, illegal, and everywhere in

between and while volumes can be

(and have been) written about these

multitudes of crimes, I would like to

talk about just one of the most recent: 4
the Citizen's United Supreme Court
ruling. for A M

Since 1905, various regulatory
systems have been implemented
to reform campaign financing. Even in those early years, the
fundamental goals of reform advocates resonate with our present
situation. To preserve democratic discourse, citizens fought to limit
the disproportionate influence of wealthy individuals and special
interest groups on the outcome of \\ | iil!
federal elections, they fought to ¥ ° I a
regulate spending in campaigns "iw
for federal office, and to deter Sijimm
abuses by mandating public
disclosure of campaign finances. ©
In 1971 Congress passed the
Federal Elections Campaign Act
or FECA, establishing guidelines es
to achieve these goals. Under E
the newly established Federal 3
Elections Committee, limits were E
placed on the amount individuals ™
and corporations could |
contribute to political campaigns, =
and all donations were required |yy_
to be disclosed to the public. As : E
time went on, more regulations a
were added in the hopes of
preserving those democratic B
ideals. Although many scandals
certainly occurred, the FEC
was instrumental in shaping an
election system with the interests
of the American people at heart.
Such an organization clearly
could not stand.

Into the arena steps the ultra-conservative non-profit
organization Citizens United who, in 2008, brought a case against
the FEC to the Supreme Court. At issue, was whether their self-
funded “documentary” titled Hillary: The Movie shouldbe allowed
to air weeks before the 2008 democratic primary. Although, the
specific circumstances of the case may
seem narrow and inconsequential, the
Court’s ruling was anything but. In a 5-4
decision, the Majority found restricting
corporate expenditures on_ political
groups to be illegal; they declared
money to be a form of speech, thus
protecting any and all donations to Political Action Committees

(PAC). Mr. Moneybags had finally been set free, and he was just
getting started.

“The likelihood of the laws being

enforced is slim. I never want to give

up, but ’'m not under any illusions.”
- FEC Chair Ann Ravel

es |

In subsequent rulings, vast loopholes were created
501 c(4) organizations, you may know these organizations from
their colloquial name: Super Pacs.
These sound pretty bland right? Well
the upshot of a Super Pac is that now,
along with having no limits on how
much they could donate, corporations
EF R | C A to these oh so benevolent-sounding
lobbyists without the requirement
of ever disclosing one penny of their
money publicly; the only caveat being that “social welfare” groups
must not be primarily directed towards politics. What does
“primarily directed” mean exactly? Well, to put it simply, it means
LU Fiorina demonstrated quite
ae) {AN FP * clearly in 2015.

ee TAEHAT ES Seah Like any of the
multitude of Republicans in
= the 2016 primaries, supporters
. of Carly Fiorina formed a
» Carly for America, to gather
as much cash as possible. Of
course, no Super Pac could be
formed solely for the purpose
A of supporting a presidential
_ candidate; that would violate
a 501 c(4) organization. In
a rare case of government
= oversight, the FEC issued an
q order, not to disband the Super
Pac, but simply to change
* their name. Compliance was
_illegally gathering unlimited,
.,, Undisclosed money for a
fae potential leader of the free
= world, legitimized itself by
= becoming Conservative,
" Authentic, Responsive

the acronym is CARLY for America.
You may believe that I am being hyperbolic.
Perhaps I am just cherry-picking a few outrageous examples, in
an otherwise tightly monitored election system. If that is the case,
don't take my opinion on the FEC’s
lack of oversight; take the word of
likelihood of the laws being enforced is
slim...I never want to give up, but ’m
not under any illusions. People think
the EE.C. is dysfunctional. It’s worse
than dysfunctional...What'’s really going on is that the Republican
commissioners don't want to enforce the law, except in the

allowing so-called “social welfare” special interests to register as
could now funnel unlimited money

whatever the fuck people want it to mean, as friends of Carly
: — Super Pac, naming theirs

their non-political status as

swift, overnight a Super Pac

Leadership for You and for America. In case you didn’t catch that,
their chairwoman, Ann M. Ravel. “The

most obvious cases. The rules aren't being followed, and that’s

20

Zl

destructive to the political process.” The committee is comprised of
six members; three Democratic and three Republican appointees,
in a surprise to absolutely nobody, rulings are perpetually split
along party lines, thus preventing the committee from enforcing
any regulations.

One does not have to look far to see the effects these
changes have had in our
electoral process. Since
the 2004 presidential
campaign, spending has
exploded from roughly
700 million dollars to
between 2 and 2.4 billion
dollars per election cycle.
Candidates are entering races sooner than at any other time in
American history, out of necessity, to raise extravagant sums of
money. Many prospective leaders often shun large, public rallies
in favor of small and exclusive meet-and-greets with the nation’s
ultra-wealthy. Congress men and women spend the majority
of their time in Washington soliciting donations, often from
those they are supposed to be regulating. Campaign advertising
perpetually increases with ever more desperate pleas for money.
And the American people become more and more disenchanted
with our political process. At this time, our present situation must
be addressed.

As I write this, Donald Trump has yet to be sworn in as
President of these United States. Many forces have conspired to
allow him to become the most powerful man in the world. While
I do not understand all of these forces entirely, there is one thing
I am certain of: the anger that has been directed at our political
process is rooted in the perception of corruption in our electoral
system. That is to say, the reason so many people feel that “the
system is rigged” is because they believe elections to be rigged, not
in favor of one party or the other, but to whomever donates the
most money to both parties.

No government in history has been free of corruption.
Our nation can endure a myriad of scandals, but what truly
frightens me is not the presence of some unethical behavior
in government, but the perception that government simply is
too corrupt to bother with. When people cease to believe that
government can be a tool for justice, cooperation, and peace then
they vote for candidates supporting retribution, isolation, and
hatred. If government becomes so tainted in our eyes, that it no
longer can represent all people fairly, many will favor candidates
that represent themselves unfairly.

Again, corruption in campaign finance does not fully
explain why Donald Trump is president. Racism, xenophobia,
misogyny, and fears of globalization all played a large role in this
election. What cannot be denied however is that Donald Trump
exploited the sense of powerlessness felt by millions of Americans,
predominantly in the white working class. People outside of this
demographic have felt this powerlessness for centuries, but as
unjust as it is, if one group feels the loss of power they will not be
comforted by knowing others have felt the same. In fact, what is
far more likely is that they will seek to invalidate the suffering of
others to make their own sense of loss feel more acute.

This will be a very difficult time for many who have
been historically disenfranchised. An issue as vague and abstract

Donald J. Trump
| October 16 at 12:32pm - @

i@ Like @ Comment

The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted
media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD!

a> Share

as campaign finance reform certainly is not on the minds of
many people right now. I care far more about the 11 million
undocumented immigrants that Donald Trump has vowed to rip
away from their families then I do about whether Jeff Merkley, my
Senator, has to disclose all of his campaign donors. But I think
this misses the point. When people feel fairly treated, their better
angels do emerge. The 60
million people who voted
for Donald Trump are not
devoid of compassion;
I know some of them
personally. But power is a
zero sum game, and if the
lions’ share of it remains
firmly in the hands of the wealthy then one might expect those at
the bottom will fight for as much as they can grasp, or simply lash
out at the system which gave them so little.

But this view stands in contrast to our history. Although
power has never been granted freely in this country, ours is not a
tradition of splitting apart and fending for ourselves against those
who seek to oppress. Ours is a history of coming together and
striving to overcome. There are some so infatuated with hatred
that they would prefer never to work with those they consider
Other. But there are far, far more willing find common ground,
if only they could be reached. Making campaign finance reform a
priority, may demonstrate to those people that we all can succeed
by sharing ideas and sharing power.

"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible
for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our
society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to
engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard.
And what is it America has failed to hear? ... It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have
not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility
and the status quo than about justice and humanity."

--Martin Luther King Jr. The Other America 1968

el ¢ °

tan

Pe, /
by mgt Flughes LAS

} ‘
’

a

Wat papas @ doa al eae

SHINAI) up a

Ae aeraisin in the sun?
rgrester, like a sore--
yAndithen.run?

DMoesitistink like rotten meat?
Ormcrust and sugar over--

AG a SyRupy sweet? 4 ,

a

asta it net sags
like a LAB) pie

Or dees Sut. B lode p=

d

23

EARTH “3% ANIMAL
LIBERATION LIBERATION
FRONT . FRONT
ractics for the wetense of

\ileged ELE/ALE (iernbers

“Our first victory is that we defend ourselves, despite the fact that nothing enables us to
foresee victory.” -Mauvaise Troupe, Defending the ZAD

Once charged, the chances are slim that any alleged ALF/ELF
member is walking away from a federal prosecution free and
clear; evidence, or lack thereof, notwithstanding. The ALF/
ELF are “organizations” the U.S. government (i.e. the corporate
state) considers by far and away the top domestic terrorist threat.
According to the FBI, the ALF/ELF were responsible for 43 of
the 57 reported “terrorist” attacks committed between 2000 and
2005. See FBI, Terrorism 2002-2005, 64-65 (2005) at: http://
www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/
terrorism2002-2005.pdf. No one
was injured or killed in any of them. &
The fact that both the ALF and ELF
scrupulously avoid harming living

beings, including people, means

nothing to the US. government,

which slaughters people on a

daily basis in order to protect ae
the property and interests of the
corporations that control it. Hard
evidence of the lengths to which

the US. government will go to

obtain convictions of alleged ALF/

ELF members, including outrageous
overcharging, is available for all to see in,
among other things, published case law.
E.g., US. v. Tankersley, 537 F.3d 1100 (9th
Cir. 2008); U.S. v. Christianson, 586 F.3d 532 (7th Cir. 2009); and
USS. v. Waters, 627 F.3d 345 (9th Cir. 2010).

Unfortunately, there seems to be two things most, if not all, of
the lawyers representing accused environmental militants fail to
consider: 1) the righteousness of the ALF/ELF cause and actions;
and 2) the reason U.S. government attorneys are so eager to plea

Daniel McGowan was impris-
oned for seven years for an ELF
arson against a logging company

bargain these cases is to avoid the publicity of a trial, or trials,
that would easily expose the inherent corruption of the U.S.
government, and the corporations it represents, to the light of
the ALF/ELF cause. As Emma Goldman so wisely said, “My trial
would give me a wonderful chance for propaganda. I must prepare
for it. My defense in an open court should carry the message of
anarchism to the whole country.’ Thus if all else fails, ALF/ELF
defendants, who are going down for an alleged crime against the
state and property, should step up and
insure the state goes down with them
by speaking out, like Goldman, by
claiming and explaining their actions
in public!

These two points, alone, give the
defense a decided advantage when
negotiating plea-bargain agreements,
an advantage ALF/ELF defendants
have evidently failed to capitalize on to
date. If anything is clear in the miasma
of the U.S. justice system, it is that
government attorneys fear publicity
and will negotiate to avoid a trial where
an ALF/ELF defendant can take the stand
and expound on their beliefs. Consequently,
it boils down to a game of chicken - the
government's fear of publicity versus the
defendant's or defendants’ fear of a long sentence. What, after all,
do you think the reason for prosecutorial overcharging is? It gives
them something to bluff with!

In no uncertain terms, the defense should make clear to
the prosecution they plan on taking the case to trial, while
emphasizing every potential weakness in the case. For example,

in Marius Mason’s case, the fact his ex, Frank Ambrose, got
caught and turned informant for a deal, throwing him under the
bus, is something almost all people find abhorrent. Nobody likes
a snitch, not even juries, but in our current patriarchal society
a husband selling out his spouse is the absolute worst kind of
snitch. Assuming the prosecution’s case would have been built
around Ambrose’s testimony, Mason's lawyers should have let it
be known they would be moving for a pretrial hearing, where
they would call Ambrose, the agent-in-charge and the Assistant
United States Attorney (AUSA) to the stand and question them
about Ambrose’s deal while under
oath. As such, they would have
established a record they could use
on cross-examination at trial, which
is a big signal they were going to
trial and Mason would be taking
the stand, even if their intent was to
negotiate a plea bargain.

This bluffing has worked well for me
over the course of the long-running
Drug War. I once negotiated a
potential sentence of 10 to 20 years
all the way down to a 1-year, time-
served sentence. In my case, since
Ive a well-founded trust issue with
most lawyers, who are, after all,
officers of the court, the bluffing was
applied to my lawyer as well as the prosecutor.

regarding any deals by any co-defendants, or
potential co-defendants, in return for their
testimony in court and remained adamant that I was going to a
jury trial. Consequently, prior to my circuit court arraignment,
the prosecution offered a plea bargain for 7 to 20 years. I turned it
down flat. Subsequently, prior to a pretrial hearing, I was offered
a sentence of 3 to 20 years, which I also turned down by stating
I wanted to go to trial. Finally, on the day of trial, I was offered
the 1-year, time-served plea bargain. However, by then, I'd figured
out they had no case, so I turned that down, went to trial, and was

Marius Mason is still in prison on
I demanded a pretrial motion be filed] g 9 2-year sentence for ELF arson

attacks against logging in Michigan

) ae

acquitted.
As officers of the court, most defense attorneys try to get you to
take the first plea-bargain offered, especially court-appointed
ones. Nevertheless, almost all of them are adverse to taking a case
down to the wire and on trial. Especially, if they are being paid
a flat fee. Time is money in the capitalist system, after all, and
most lawyers are businesspersons first and foremost, officers of
the court second, and your representatives third. Such being the
case, I must definitely advise taking it to the wire. If the AUSAs
call your bluff, then go to trial, take the stand and expose the
duplicity of the prosecution, the
_ evidence against you, pointing
out that unconstitutional statutes
are not law and let the jury know
they have the right to acquit you
regardless of what the law says.

The latter is called jury
nullification. John Jay, the First
Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States
(SCOTUS) said in 1789, “The jury
has a right to judge both the law
as well as the fact in controversy.’
This statement was echoed by
SCOTUS justices Samuel Chase
in 1796, Oliver Wendell Holmes
in 1902, and Harlan F Stone in
1941. See US. v. Doughtery, 473 F.2d 1113,
1139 (D.C. Cir. 1972).

1/2014

In sum, make a fucking stand for what you
believe in. Wasn't that what you were doing in the first place? Use
your trial as a platform to mobilize public opinion to support you
and your case, especially if your bluff fails and you're going down
anyway. Easy enough to do if your actions were aimed at saving the
planet, the animals and all life from the grasping and destructive
hands of greedy, self-serving, capitalist corporate scum!

Eco-sabotage is not dead! Earth First!
Newswire reports unknown heroes have set
fire to construction equipment along the
route of the evil Dakota Access Pipeline and
caused $2,000,000 in damages. Police have no
suspects.

http://earthfirstjournal.org/news-
wire/2016/10/17/series-of-arsons-along-dapIl-
causes-2-million-in-damages/

Earth First!

Providing news and information about direct action
in defense of living systems around the world.

24

THE DAILY NEWS THE DAILY NEWS

wow dailynews.com THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER weew daitynews.com THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER

Neo-Nazi Mob Murders
Gay Rapper Pavlos
Fyssas In Greece

Transgender Man
Brandon Teena Raped
and Murdered

THE DAILY NEWS THE DAILY NEWS

worn dadynews com THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER wow dadynews com THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER +See 1879

Matthew Shepard Bex Ugandan Legislature
Tortured, Left To Die in pies Life in Prison
oming for Sodomy

|

=
"EE
e @
ai
at
‘ls
=| hes
21 Z,
= ty
EAB
3; WN
Ky
a
es
:0
>
-
mS
Zz
es
=
(Cp

v2)
-
Le |
&
i i]
=
-_
a - |
is")
is:}
=
wa
i

ai

5

2

a

5
5

z

A

THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER

THE DAILY NEWS

Islamic State —
Throw Gay Man
From Rooftop

Brockington Commit Suicide

wn

il

Jew)
dof

.
an
es
o)
is
KK
Zz,
e9)
=
YY

THE DAILY NEWS ves Senator Says Homosexuality THR DAILY NEWS

“Tyler Clementi, 18, Jumps To — “Jadin Bell, 15,
i Hangs Self on

School Playground

25

Don t internalize the hate -
Retaliate!

KILL HOMOPHOBL
NOT YOURSELF

2/

Power means force. Literally. In every sense of the
word. Power is kinetic, physical force, moving material objects
to and fro. Sometimes the objects are cars and planes and
turbines and assembly lines, sometimes the objects are human
beings. The quest for control over power is the prime directive
of systems of domination like the state and capitalism, racism
and patriarchy. Political and economic power means, very
literally, physical force acting upon human bodies. It also means
the sources of electricity
and combustion (power)
that drive the machines
that enhance political and
economic power.

Very often, the
capitalist, racist, and/or
state forces in their quest
for power attempt to exert
control over both human
bodies and sources of energy,

simultaneously. We're all
familiar with the wars and
destruction fought for

control over oil, one of the
most precious and unholy of
all sources of energy (power).

Right now, as this
magazine goes to print, a
skirmish is being fought
on US-occupied territory in the center of the North American
continent. The Standing Rock Sioux, a tribe of Native Americans,
after enduring a century and a half of defeat, humiliation, and
murder at the hands of white men (seeking power), make a

bs " a =

last stand on the small plot of land they have left: the Standing
Rock reservation. Energy Transfer Partners, a Fortune 500 gas
company, plans to despoil and exploit this last small parcel
the Standing Rock Sioux have left, by building a pipeline right
through it, to move gas produced by fracking from the Bakken
fields of North Dakota, to a terminal in Illinois where it can
be processed. As we've seen over and over again, in Alabama
and New York and hundreds of other places, these pipelines
frequently leak, and sometimes
catastrophically explode,
spilling hundreds of thousands
of barrels of oil, oftentimes
into crucial water sources or
#) sensitive ecosystems. This can
poison drinking water and kill
animals. It already has in many
places. Indeed, the Dakota
May Access Pipeline is already
, understood to be so dangerous
‘j that the mostly white residents
r 5 4 of Bismarck, North Dakota (not
@ exactly a town full of hippies
and environmentalists) voted
against allowing the pipeline
to travel through their city,
*" because of the very reasonable
~ fears it would leak and poison
their water resources. So
instead it was rerouted to travel through an area where the
residents have less power: the Standing Rock Native American
reservation.

There, resistance has been fierce. Thousands of protesters
have showed up to defend the land and the water and, crucially, to
prevent the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure. They've
built barricades, charged at the police on horseback to break up
their lines, chained themselves to construction equipment, and
called on the world to demand the
federal government and Energy
Transfer Partners stop the pipeline.

The crackdown by police
has been brutal. Dogs have set loose
and bitten people, tear gas and
pepper spray was sprayed aimlessly
into the crowds, and thousands of
largely peaceful protesters have been rounded up and arrested.

This is the essential relationship. The quest for control
over energy is the quest for control over bodies. Controlling energy

MAKE

A STAND

©2016
Marty
Two Bulls
m2bulls. “Bey,

1s | “LIke

NO DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE

STOP THE BLACK SNAKE

in, ee

—_ S

m2bulls.com

NO DAKOTA ACCESS ‘PIPELINE

The quest for control over
energy is the quest for
control over bodies.

means stealing land and despoiling resources, controlling bodies
means inflicting pain and preventing movement via restrictive
devices like handcuffs. This is what capitalism is about, this is
what it’s for. Control. More for the few at the top, less for everyone
else. The energy being transferred by the Energy Transfer Partners
is for powering the devices and
systems that give more control to
the capitalists, and reduce control
for us.

But the brave indigenous
resistance at Standing Rock aims
to disrupt this process, to be
ungovernable and uncontrollable,
to keep chemical energy (power) in the ground lest it poison our
water and heat up the Earth, and to resist and break out of the
control (power) of the ruling class.

©2016
MAI

RTY
Two Bulls
m2bulls.com

AKOTA NO ACCESS

STOP THE BLACK SNAKE
DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE

rai’ From the north a ws
black snake will come. S
It will cross our lands, © =
slowly killing allthat ~*~
it touches, and in its
passing the water
will become poison.

m2bulls.com Lakota end-of-times prophecy

STOP THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE

all art by Marty Two Bulls, 2016

AQUARIUS
21 January - 19 February

2 Never trust a cop,
wi, especially not on
ay | Thursdays.

ARIES
21 March - 20 April

“Power to the
people” includes
you too.

GEMINI
\| 22 May - 21 June

Get revenge

now, before you
\ regret missing
ae chance.

Sd

Zo

Do more gay stuff

PISCES
20 February - 20 March ‘
\

Now is the time to Xy
start a community =
garden.

TAURUS eh
21 April-21May = J

f

with your friends.

CANCER
22 June - 22 July

Li mont VN

Stay anonymous “| \ yey < { ¥
wah PAS
as long as I y xg

possible, don’t
expose yourself
too early.

VIRGO
24 August - 23 September

Fire is a tool,
and a useful
one. Burn
uncontrollably.

SCORPIO
24 October - 22 November

No prison can
contain you
anyway, but
don’t let them

a) Scale document down

LEO
23 July - 23 August

Snitches get
stitches.

LIBRA
24 September - 23 October

try. di Inspiration only
comes from action.
Don’t think, do.
CAPRICORN SAGITTARIUS
22 December - 20 January AM ; 23 November - 21 December
Smash authority ANS
before it é |
smashes you. he BS xt \
; oy Revolution
The ee: requires love,
Thee ae $23 yw but it also
J NS

requires hate.
30

eal

They Can’t Stop Us; Why Break Windows?

The attack is the most beautiful moments an anarchist
can undertake. Feeling the adrenaline of rushing to a window
with a rock in hand, or the moments before striking a cop with
your fist. Planting the bomb, pulling the trigger, shouting FUCK
THE POLICE!. The attack is an experience unlike any other, one
many of us desire to experience, and many of us have experienced.
We get tingles and a rush of adrenaline just thinking about it.
Picturing ourselves tossing the lit Molotov at a line of riot police
is one of the most entertaining day dreams all of us have. Power
alone in scandalous thoughts many in our own milieu have tried
to extinguish. They tell us we can't blow up a social relationship,
but time and time again we show them we had a hell of a time
trying.

Anarchist attack is a tradition, and a foundational base
of anarchy. Without the attack as the actualization of our desires
and dreams, what are we but bitter Marxists begging the working
class to follow us? Without the attack we are but mere political
elites, constantly talking down to the slaves “below” us in hopes of
them joining our ranks, by signing up for our Listserv or joining
in our boring chants all about the “power” of the “working class.”
We are just sophisticated creatures who talk talk talk.

The attack serves as a reaction to the constant tension
between those below and those above. Our declarations of hatred
are a downtrodden reaction to the strengthening grip social
order holds around our throats. The bomb is planted not only to
instigate a reaction, but to defend against violence initiated against
us, social and material grips on our self, locking the gate to our
unique selves, declaring us criminals and roaches to be crushed
under the boots of state tyranny, capital exploitation, and sexual
shame. So much power pressing us against the walls in hopes to
keep us there, willingly working and slaving away to continue
the death march to extinction for profit and power. Boots on our
throats, hands on our necks, and knives to our crotches, and they
wonder why we react!

But among this reaction, this tension, we still do the
work of our enemies for them. Shaming other comrades, letting
them rot in prison alone without love and support, letting liberals
boss us around because we dont fit the criteria for their petty
leadership. Selling out other comrades on ideological lines and
dogmatic principles. Solidarity can feel dead at times, even at a
moment when passion burns brightest.

At this point in history we have reached an interesting
rock and hard place with lines blurred between right and wrong,
where the liberal fog of non-violent “resistance” is but a facade
fewer and fewer individuals are upholding. A time when Molotov
cocktails have been thrown in America. A time where it feels
as if nihilist anarchism is growing in popularity. A time where
Murray Bookchin’s ideas have actually inspired a revolution. We
are currently holding our breaths, humming before the tension
reaches a boiling point. So, why break windows you ask? Simply
put, why the fuck not? However, before we can answer why...

an essay by Armenio Lewis
illustrations by Laura Isabella

1: The Anarchist Tension

Asa child, do you remember feeling tense, agitated when
your parental figure ordered you around the house? Demanding
you pick up the toys, to do your homework, and be respectful.
Initiating this false facade of “legit” authority over your young and
adventurous self? At the time, or currently depending on your age
you felt that tension. That bubbling rage inside desiring to shout
NO! So petty we think now, but is it petty or is it microcosmic?

In school, work, or out on the town we can see and feel
this tension everywhere. When the school child refuses an order
barked at her solely because her skirt is “too short” and “distracts
the boys.” When your boss demands you perform better because
you “just look like you aren't performing at your best.” When the
cop pulls the gun on the black person solely for walking where
society doesn’t want them.

Tension is our conceptualization of the power produced
between opposing forces, contradictory forces. Whiteness
against Blackness, the state against the criminals, society against
the individuals. Tension is how we describe the grasp of our
throats by the boot and the pressure of conformity. Our own
conceptualization of a bubbling force of againstness between us
and them. Some say look at the grey, but it is as black and white as
a dichotomy can be. There is no middle ground with power, you
have it or you don’t. You are the powerful being in charge, or you
are the bitter and resentful slave below.

Recognition of one’s social and material placement. An
understanding that the weight is on our shoulders. Our daily
interactions are upheld by this tension, as is the slave’s reaction.
Confrontations on every street corner surround us, and hold
dominion over our existence because that is what life is. A
constant tension, a feeling of weakness.

But within this recognition, we find the difference
between tension, and anarchist tension. The slave, the common
worker, understands this relationship but accepts it with open
arms. Opening the door to the unwanted guest out of a fear of
repression and failure. Eager to please the ferocious monster, as
it laughs. Selling their own child over to the beast to be sacrificed
as they were, to become yet another common worker. To become
yet another slave to drive the death march home to a decayed and
destroyed earth, with only the faintest hint of nature left. This
comrades, is what separates tension, from the anarchist tension.

The anarchist tension is not defined by the destructive and
tyrannical relationship between the worker and the boss, rather it
is defined by the bullet lodged in the boss’s head as the worker runs
in gleeful hurry to the nearest safehouse. The anarchist tension is
defined not by the “checking of privilege” but the fist to the face
of the obnoxious bro calling the sexy lad a faggot. The anarchist
tension is not defined by the unease of submission but the refusal
and reaction against expected submission. The anarchist doesn't
stop at saying no, they continue until death.

2. The Anarchist Reaction

Like tension, there exists a difference between reaction
against power, and the anarchist reaction against power. For
the common slave, a reaction is simply a venting of unease.
Complaints amongst co-workers about how hyperbolic the boss
presents themselves. Women in the club bathroom mocking the
jocky dude bros who hit on them in the most asinine ways. The
reaction of the slave is merely a tension reliever that does not
confront those with power head on, but rather directs rage into
small pockets that ventilate it so they can continue another day of
miserable existence.

A more modern and personal example of this would be
the petition. Internet sites such as Change.org, or Whitehouse.gov
contain the possibility to make a petition, and then make it viral

one outside of social media. It should also be stated all of these
sites feature ads, which generate revenue for these sites. This
venting is not only useless, but it is commodified! Tired of racism
and white supremacy? Read this article. Oh, and also generate us
money while youre at it!

And this is where the anarchist reaction diverges from
the simple reaction. As anarchists, we take things further. We
are radical, rebellious, iconoclastic slightly nihilistic individuals
whose only goal is to destroy what destroys us. Capitalism, white
supremacy, patriarchy, all of these are apparatuses of domination
that aim to control us, that expect us to submit. They are not met
by a simple proclamation of againstness but a swift and decisive
action that not only proclaims but shocks those in power. From
the simple smashing of windows, to the placement of a bomb, or

for a week, in an attempt to garner as much gossip and support
as possible. Then, when all is said and done, the petition and all
talk of it disappears until a new petition takes its place, or a new
social cause arises to get people riled up. Constantly shifting, but
taking momentary pauses and going back to shopping, working,
and general submission.

Another modern example would be the role of
opinionated journalism sites that tout “social justice” as a
meaningful concept such as Huffington Post, or Jezebel, or even
Black Girl Dangerous, posting article after article about the hot
new social issue affecting modern society and all of its inhabitants.
Like petitions however, they are but minor ventilations that
simply proclaim a sense of againstness, but never actualize into

the robbing of the bank, our actions are heard and felt rather than
ignored and treated as everyday life.

As anarchists our reaction is not simply venting but
constant and consistent anger and rage towards this society. Our
anger isn’t centered and focused on minute details of specific
apparatuses but against them in totality. Our anger isn’t brushed
aside, it is fought back against with harsh repression. FBI raids,
long prison sentences, infiltrating state agents. So many resources
are placed against us because of our reaction, not because of our
positioning. Anyone can proclaim that they are against the police,
but that is but a reaction. We not only proclaim, but we act by
smashing up the state’s vehicles and torching their offices, this is
an anarchist reaction.

a

a3

3. Why Break Windows?

Finally, to the point of this essay; why break windows? As
stated at the beginning this question has a very simple answer that
doesnt need entire pages to explain and justify. The smashing of a
window is simply a microcosm of grander actions taken by other
anarchists. Whether you are pro-violence and nihilist terrorism,
or if you are against it, we can all agree it is much grander than
smashing a simple window. However, as anarchists grand is not
the point of our rage. Whether we build a solidarity network to
help those in our lives resist the control and abuse by tenants
pulling sleazy tactics, or if we rob a bank to fund our revolutionary
activities, we are all contributing to a simple idea that we are
the creators of our experiences. Not society, not capitalism, not
socially constructed systems of control like race or caste. In our

and simple attack with friends! Smashing a window is the most
intense form of attack and tension building you can do without
facing too much legal repercussions. Smashing a window is also
ridiculously easy.

A wise anarchist once told me in his poetic writings that
freedom is not an achievable goal, but rather a lived experience,
that we feel when participating in clandestine and violent acts
against the establishment. Tagging will make you feel free,
smashing a window will make you feel free. Yelling FUCK THE
POLICE with a crowd will make you feel free. Simple acts with
no meaning, except the meaning that comes with the anarchist
reaction and the anarchist tension.

Smashing windows is also a very popular, and very
effective actualization of propaganda by the deed. I would not be

own ways, we all fight back and it is important not only tactically,
but emotionally to support and declare solidarity with acts that
resist and fight back. We can critique, and boy do we, but we can
also accept and praise.

So rather than validate and justify window smashing, I
would rather take a more risky route and attempt to convince you
why you should the next opportunity you get.

The smashing of a window, like all acts of resistance, is
as exciting as it is risky. The adrenaline of running up to a window
and smacking it with a flag is an experience unlike those which
we commonly experience. Telling a cop to fuck off is nothing
compared to smashing his car’s window out! Tagging “Fuck
gentrification” on the wall of that new coffee shop is nothing in
comparison to smashing its windows out during a riot or a small

writing this if it wasn’t for an anarchist smashing a window in-
front of me. How exciting and fun that looked! I kept hearing
chants of “Anarchy now!” as well, so of course I went to google.
Will smashing a window inspire everyone? Of course not! It will
however, inspire someone.

Lastly, why not? Smashing windows largely take place
in three possible situations. A riot, a street demo, or a night time
action taken with comrades. Alternatively and most oftenly,
the act takes place when all three are combined. In all of these
situations you are there because you are an anarchist, so make
it an anarchist reaction! Turn the boring chants into loud
declarations and demands for freedom, then experience freedom
and feel what it is like to resist and fight back as an individual,
take power for yourself and throw the brick!

4, It Won't Change The World; But It Will Change Your Night!

The most common argument against smashing windows,
really the only argument worth engaging, is that window smashing
does nothing to advance the “anarchist cause/movement” and
“only makes others hate you!” Let’s take a look at the various
forms this argument exist in.

1. It both does, and does not, change things. Nobody
is going to argue that smashing a window will incite a mass and
global revolution where workers worldwide seize the means of
production and finally abolish the state, absolutely nobody argues
that, because that is not the point to breaking a window. Breaking
a window is but an individual expression, an anarchist reaction.
Breaking a window also separates the leftist charade, a.k.a. street
parade, from the riot. Boring chants, boring leaders giving boring
talks, boring walking in circles doing nothing but holding a sign.
Until, that is, a window is smashed. Dumpsters being thrown
into the street and set on fire, projectiles being thrown at cops. A
tone and aura of againstness and rage culminating into the most
exciting moment of your boring life. Smashing a window is not
a logistical choice to strategically advance a movement, but an
individual decision to react and fight back and finally feel a sliver
of freedom.

2. Smashing windows do not hurt workers, and if they do,
then shouldn't that business be smashed and torched? A common
argument presented is that when you smash a window, workers
pay for it. This is partly true, as workers pay for anything anyone
does to or with the business, because they are workers. If a janitor
has to clean up a broken window, is that not already part of their
job? Workers are defined by their business and the roles in place,
which is already a damaging relationship anarchists are against.
Why do we pretend we are saving them when we choose not to, or
stop someone from smashing a window? The only worker you are
protecting is yourself to finally feel good about something you did
and pretend as if you are some savior. Enough with this, anarchist!
Lastly, let’s say the worker’s pay is docked because of a smashed
window. Why don’t we organize a solidarity network and get that
pay back? Hit them on multiple fronts, don’t discourage action for
the sake of presentation.

3. Finally, it isn't about looking good. We are not
politicians, we do not have to care about being presentable or
respectable. We are anarchists for crying out loud! We state within
our very name that we are against all this society stands for. Is
it any wonder why they shame us? As if your union strikes are
as well liked as teenage rioters. Both are presented as parasitic
scum, damaging the core of this society. Both are presented as
something to not follow and join in on, yet for some reason
people do anyways. Why is that? Because either people will like
us, or they will not. Treating ourselves like show dogs, making
sure all our hair is trimmed and fluffy and cuddly, will not change
a goddamn thing because at the end of the day we are still a show
dog whose only reason for existence is to garner money for their
owner.

Is it valid to not personally partake or agree with window
smashing? Of course, but to so publicly shame and harass those
who do? As if your existence is any more relevant?

5. Whatever You Do, Get Away With It.

The fear of repression is the state’s strongest enemy, so,
how do we as anarchist combat this? Simple. BE SMART. Getting
away with smashing a window is incredibly easy, so here are a few
tips.

1. Wear gloves. Crime shows are fiction. They cannot
simply get your prints from a cell phone app. Prints, in reality,
are actually quite difficult to gain, however one should still take
precaution. It is obvious why if you are already in the system from
prior arrest, but if you are not here is something to remember.
The state recognizes patterns extremely well. If fingerprints are
reoccurring not only are they stored in the database, but our link
together. If you do get caught, well there is the evidence. How
to avoid this? WEAR GLOVES. Really any gloves will do. You
can buy black gloves for a dollar at the dollar tree for example,
or find them anywhere in a cheap store. Also, garden gloves will
hide your prints. Lastly, for those extra cautious, wear latex gloves
underneath your gloves.

2. Cameras are everywhere, hide your fucking face.
The eyes and forehead, as well as the hair of an individual are not
only the most recognizable features of the face, but when linked
together make the state yell “Gotcha!” It’s very easy to hide all
of this. WEAR ALL BLACK AND BLOC UP. Simple guides are
everywhere, and if nervous about NSA spying, simply google
“how to look like a ninja”

3. No time is better than now, but safety first. As
important as it is to act and react, it is also just as important to not
do so blatantly in front of a cop, or in the middle of a quiet time
around a bunch of peace police. Some will argue, fuck that do it
whenever and I agree with this position, but Iam me and they are
themselves. Are you willing to face time in a cell? It’s okay if you
arent, but take care of yourself and realize you could get caught.

4. Don't brag about it. It's awesome, exciting, fun, and
something you really want to share with others but for the love
of god keep your mouth shut because it will get you caught. In
closing, smashing a window is fun but like all acts of resistance it
has its own danger. I personally argue to not worry about getting
caught, and merely take your rage with you in prison and beyond.
However, I am me and my own individual being. We are anarchist,
not Marxist. You make your own decisions. Are you all about
getting away with it, or are you uncaring? Neither determine how
much of an anarchist you are, rather they determine who you are
and what is important to you and that is okay.

Smashing a window won't change the world, nor will
it inspire a thousand new window smashers. It will make you
feel a sliver of freedom and give you a memory worth keeping
to keep yourself inspired and angry. It will grant you experience,
knowledge, and excitement. It will give you something to be
proud and happy about amongst the constant depression we all
face about how miserable this world is. So, when asked why smash
a window, answer back with...

woos WHY THE FUCK NOT

34

POWE R playlist

POWERRUL
FIGHT
Feels Blind Gang; Control
Don?t: Hurtsvourself; Masters ofjWar-
Youth/Against)Fascism
VityMangled)Heart= our Heartiisya) MuscleytheySize) WINISTAY4
ofsYourkist:
O/htil nfinitys ServingyGoffman)

What:siGoing{On land} I[Survive)

art by Will Keating

36

WORD SEARCH OF FAMOUS ANARCHISTS

B x w @Q B Oo G x A 4 s G ft? ¥Y¥ HN PF e

E s I L B C R E S A R T R H R OF UV

A N L Ss T OF R K X€T P ¥Y K S MB OH C B

T oO D GL A N i G F E Zz R U H vA i J

S S E O A T VU N UV I M B D T V R H Q

E R S N A R N D A G@ K H O P ¥ UV €E s

by A K Q R A R x oO N O B L A c K A A

A P vu U M O x B A N O FE N €E A Oo Y K

L ¥Y DB DB R BA Ss I R N E R C R W C K

A P TFT KK C FJ D F K C D V EE N S G@ KX R

M O x s Vv U res kg = R I E bs x R M E Pp

G V D B D P E Vv w N O L Cc A O K P R

G E L D E R L O OF S OF P E L C ¥ EE x

A M OF V L R U FB r Oo P B O OF E L E X

PP U CFE M W M K €E 2 R E Fr R T BI E 4 Ww E

E UD A L P K O M N R KX V N UK E R J

G N H N I N VK A BB QQ T BB DB ¥ IT S E

B R D H x c s K xX N x E E Vv M D N @Q
Mikhail Bakunin Bob Black Judith Butler Voltairine deCleyre
Lorenzo Kom’Boa Ervin Emma Goldman Peter Kropotkin Lucy Parsons
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Lucia Sanchez Saornil Max Stirner John Zerzan
Alexander Berkman Alfredo Bonnano Noam Chomsky Buenaventura Durruti
Peter Gelderloos David Graeber Errico Malatesta Fredy Perlman

Rudolf Rocker Jean-Paul Sartre Oscar Wilde

Shout-out to some of our favorite publications... Stop by the ROAR Center in the EMU to check them out!

Earth First!

Media from the Frontlines
of Ecological Resistance

ME \\cosl

|

Resource Guide for STUDENT INSURGENTS

(that’s you)
ROAR Center Groups
Radical Organizing & Activism Resource Center (ROAR)

Stop by the suite 006 in the EMU or email roarcenter@gmail.com.
The ROAR Center is home to SLAP. Student Insurgent, Young

Eugene and Campus Resources

Student Survivor Legal Services
For free legal support to student survivors of sexual assault,
dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, call 541-346-

Democratic Socialists, and Oregon Voice. It is a place to learn about8619 or schedule an appointment online at law.uoregon.edu/

radical organizing, leftist political theory, and get involved with
campus movements.

Student Labor Action Project (SLAP)

Past and current campaigns include petioning for Measure 97,
$15 Now, Consumer Protection Finance Bureau Loan Forgiveness
Pledge, GTFF strike, and protecting the rights of student dining

workers. Contanct uoslap@gmail.com to get involved.

Student Insurgent (that’s us)

studentinsurgent@gmail.com

Young Democratic Socialists

survivor.

Safe Ride and Designated Driver Shuttle

Call 541-346-RIDE(extension 2) to schedule a free ride! Want to
get involed? Email saferide@uoregon.edu or asuodds@uoregon.
edu.

Food Pantry

For up to date distribution times look at the Facebook page
“Student Food Pantry” and the website ‘uostudentfoodpantry.
wordpress.com.

Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team (SWAT)

Email swat@uoregon.edu to get information on SWAT’s
workshops on consent, relationships, dating violence, and

bystander intervention.

YDS is the youth wing of the Democratic Socialists of America and Food Not Bombs - Eugene

fights for political reforms in the interesting of the working class,
as well as feminist, anti-racist, environmentalist, and pro-LGBT
actions.

UO Solidarity with Standing Rock

The ROAR Center has organized an ongoing campaign to raise
awareness and solidarity with the Standing Rock tribe protests
against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Ask a ROAR codirector for
more information.

Oregon Voice

The Oregon Voice is a pop culture magazine on campus at
the University of Oregon that is open to anyone interested in
publishing their artistic creation: art, poetry, fiction.

Email is publisher@oregonvoice.com

FNB is a decentralized global network of collectives that aims to
provide free, vegan meals for all and fight hunger. Get in contact

at eugenefoodnotbombs@gmail

UO Climate Justice League

Past and current campaigns include the effort to force the
University of Oregon endowment to divest from fossil fuels,
as well as pressing the university to power its facilities with
renewable sources. Get in contact at

climatejusticeleague@gmail.com

Students for Choice
Email s4choice@uoregon.edu to get involved with pro-choice
activism and promote reproductive rights.

Anarchist Black Cross - Eugene

ABC is a century-old global network of activists and
revolutionaries promoting solidarity and mutual aid with
imprisoned individuals, especially imprisoned anarchists. Email
is socialunlimited@gmail.com. Send mail to

Eugene ABC c/o Student Insurgent

ROAR Center

1228 East University Street

Eugene, OR 97403

Cascadia Forest Defenders

Direct action group focused on defending the forests of the
Pacific Northwest from logging and development. Weekly
meetings at

Growers’ Market Upstairs

454 Willamette Street

Eugene OR

https://forestdefensenow.wordpress.com/

38

Student Insurgent
ROAR Center

1228 East University St
Eugene, OR 97403

Xr La

a

a
~The next télease of the Student Insurgentis
_~the Party, Issue! Send us all your art}ipoetry;
and proseyabout fat ragers and getting wasted,
and about formal political organizations and
electoral agendas. Tell us whatjyou.think*about
toga parties and communist parties’ Rack your.
brains onshipjbetwee and creative ideas about/the

relationship)between young people obliterating
their minds with alcohol and the Democrats and
Republicans obliterating your freedom with laws

and taxes. Any and all submissions (by post or
email) are welcome!

/
'

\

studentinsurgent@gmail.com